Hey folks, merember me? :biggrin: I used to make some wood pens.
I haven't made one since July 3rd of last year :frown: but I ain't forgotten how.
I've mostly been doing flat work the last year.
I wanna throw in a couple 'o comments here. Given that July 4th is about 2 weeks away, for me this discussion is right on time -- Eagle, my friend, you listenin'? :wink:
The first is related to the `Gimme a tutorial' crowd. To those who believe you're owed a tutorial and wrote to insult Wolftat for NOT sharing his method I say, "Who is John Galt?"
The second is the best tip WRT thinking about making a pen blank and it comes from Eagle: "The blank is constructed from the center out to the edge!"
The third is a philosophy about blank making and it's one I share with Ed, Eagle, and numerous others: Work to figure out how to make what you see and experiment using trial and error. This will teach you more than anything anyone else can tell you.
When I first got into pen making, my first custom woodwork pen, e.g.: one not made from simple solid wood, was a curly Bubinga pen with an Ebony and Maple Yin Yang inlay.
The blank took me 8 hours to make.
While building the blank, I spent many hours on a cell phone with an ear-bud in my ear and Eagle on the other end. We talked about all manner of things related to penmaking, the world, and life.
He talked about how I would learn more than I would realize from figuring out how to make the inlay Yin Yang.
Now, as a woodworker, I can think of several methods to make the HB 360 -- gee, that almost sounds like a piece of legislation :tongue: -- and they're all a lot of work. I can promise you that when time permits, I'll make a blank like this to help encourage others who want to figure things out for themselves.
One reason Eagle, I and others hesitate to instruct folks on how to make certain blanks --
IT CAN BE DANGEROUS! Yep, some of these blanks are constructed from lots of small pieces and working with power tools having flesh-eating, rotating cutters can put you at risk.
So, one reason I hesitate is because
I don't know what you don't know about safety.
If you ask for safety advice, I will gladly offer it -- always and freely.
Finally, I want to draw your attention to the work being done by a friend of mine, Darryl M., who posts here infrequently:
http://lumberjocks.com/projects/18179
After you look at that link, look at a bunch of his projects online at the
LJ.
When I started conversing with Darryl about his work, he'd been making plain wood pens for many months. I knew he had a huge talent, but he was lazy -- he wouldn't push himself. I gnawed at him a bit and pushed and prodded and now he shines like the star he always was. Look at the mastery of his workmanship! I have nothing to do with the quality of his craft; I merely antagonized him enough to help him throw off the lazy man's yoke.
So, I suggest, those of you who wish to learn to make the HB 360 -- throw off the lazy man's yoke, go out to the shop, and cut some wood. Glue some wood. Test your ideas. Test your mettle. Teach your inner child how to transform wishes and wants into self-fulfilling actualizations.
Train yourself to do rather than desire. And, make some great pens.
Cheers,
G